A STUDY OF ECKERMANN’S FIVE SELECTED POEMS: DEVICES,
MEANINGS, AND ABORIGINAL EXPERIENCES
A Thesis
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirement of Sarjana Humaniora Degree
AGSEORA EDIYEN 0910732158
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
ANDALAS UNIVERSITY PADANG
ABSTRACT
Dalam skripsi ini, penulis menganalisis lima buah puisi Ali Cobby Eckermann yang berjudul “I Tell You True”, “One Child Two Child Wailing and Wild”, “How Does a Father Feel”, “Intervention Pay Back”, dan “Little Bit Long Time”, untuk mengkaji puisi dan mengungkap permasalahan yang dialami oleh penyair dan orang-orang Aborigin. Dalam menganalisis puisi-puisi ini, penulis menggunakan pendekatan new criticism untuk melihat unsur yang digunakan penyair dalam menyampaikan penderitaan yang dialaminya. Selain itu, penulis juga menggunakan pendekatan biografis sebagai analisis tambahan untuk memperdalam makna mengenai permasalahan yang dialami penyair dan orang-orang Aborigin. Setelah melakukan analisis, penulis menemukan bahwa puisi-puisi Eckermann merupakan karya yang bagus karena memiliki kesatuan antara bentuk dan makna sebagai kesatuan organik dalam menyampaikan kesedihan mendalam dari korban kekerasan dan mereka tidak memiliki kekuatan untuk melawan atau memperjuangkan nasibnya melalui unsur-unsur yang digunakan. Puisi-puisi ini menggambarkan ketidakberdayaan orang-orang aboriginal yang diperlakukan secara tidak adil seperti pemerkosaan dan anak-anak diambil paksa. Mabuk menjadi salah satu cara untuk melupakan kepedihan.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1The Background of the Research
Ali Cobby Eckermann is one of native woman poets. She is also known as Yankunytjatjara or Kokatha. She was born on Kaurna land at Brighton in Adelaide at 1963 and lives in Koolunga, South Australia. Little Bit Long Time was her first book of poems published by the Australian Poetry Centre as part of the New Poets series in 2009. It is included her twenty seven poems. Then, she also published her second collection book which was entitled Kami in 2010 by Vagabond Press. Then in 2011, she published her verse novel entitled My Father Eyes by Oxford Uni Press and historical tale entitled Robby Moonlight. In 2012 Eckermann also published her poems collection entitled Love Dreaming and Other Poems and in 2013 memoir entitled Too Afraid Too Cry (Whitebeach 2013). Eckermann‟s works use aloud voice about the real condition of aboriginal people.
She also got awards from her powerful works. Eckermann won awards such as in the poem “I Tell You True”. This poem won First Prize at the inaugural ATSI Survival Competition 2006. “One Child Two Child Wailing and Wild” was
shortlisted Dymocks Red Earth Poetry Award and Printed NT Literary Award Anthology 2007, and “Intervention Pay Back” won first prize in the Dymocks Red
powerful poetry was collected in one book entitled “Little Bit Long Time”. In
2011 she won Inaugural Kuril Dhagun Indigneous Writing Fellowships offered through the State Library of Queensland‟s black and write Project. The newest award, Eckermann got Deadly Award for Outstanding Achievement for her verse novel entitled Robby Moonlight in 2012.
The writer chooses poems because the writer is interested to analyze something different. The writer wants to give a new perspective for an English Department research. Besides that, the writer has an interest in Australian culture that becomes a literary work attention in this research. In this research, the writer chooses five selected poems such as, “I Tell You True”, “One Child Two Child Wailing and Wild”, “How Does a Father Feel”, “Intervention Pay Back”, and “Little Bit Long Time”. Those poetry was collection of Eckermaan‟s poems
compiled in one book entitled Little Bit Long Time. Those poems have power to take attention of the reader. It has a highligh about suffering of aboriginal life that reflected on five selected poems of Eckermann.
performed at the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in Bali in 2010, and at the Reaching The World Summit in Bangkok, Thailand in 2012. She is educated women, she got to Brinkworth Area School and Clare High School, in the mid north of South Australia (Whitebeach 2013).
The writer uses new criticism and biographical approach in order to analyze the Eckermann‟s poems. Every good literary works has a connection
between form and content, this research tries to prove this correlation. In term to find out the form, the writer uses devices to know the form in Eckermann‟s poems, it uses new criticism. In order to find out the meaning, the writer uses supporting approach to cover the author‟s life due to the unfairness to Aboriginal people, it uses biographical approach. Therefore, the writer uses these theory to achieve the purpose of this research in term to find out the quality of Eckermann poems and the problem of aboriginal people reflected in Eckerman poems.
In analyzing the poems, the writer use New Criticism. This theory has two main poeint, form and content. Eckermann chooses the word creatively becomes beautiful form. Here, the form helps in analyzing the meaning. The writer creates a judgment of the poet is based on the richness of the attitude like ambivalent, the complexity like ambiguity, and balance of the text like irony, tension and paradox. It is thigh relationship between form and meaning in organic unity. Form supports in finding out the theme of the poem.
in further analysis for better understanding for Eckermann‟s poems. Therefore, the writer uses biographical as supporting approach because the writer believes that the content of the poem, which are vividly referring to the condition of Aboriginal people, is originated from Eckermann‟s personal experiences.
In order to find out Eckermann‟s messages and experiences as an Aboriginal throughout the devices, prove that both forms and contents are correlated, the writer is interested to analyze Eckermann‟s five selected poems. These five poems are chosen because it has same issues about unfairness around Aboriginal people. Relate to these issues, the writer entitles this research as A Study of Eckermann’s Five Selected Poems: Devices, Meaning, And Aboriginal Experiences.
1.2 The Identification of the Problem
The writer in this research analyzes poems written by Ali Cobby Eckermann that has been compiled into book entitled Little Bit Long Time. There are five poems which are analyzed: “I Tell You True”, “One Child Two Child Wailing and Wild”, “How Does a Father Feel”, “Intervention Pay Back”, and “Little Bit Long Time” (2009). The writer takes this five selected poems because it
1.3The Scope of the Research
The research is conducted based on these following questions: 1. What are the devices used in Eckermann‟s five selected poems?
2. What are sorrows of Eckermann as an Aboriginal represented in Eckermann‟s five selected poems?
1.4 The Objective of the Research
The most important aim of this research is to reveal and explain the quality of poems by Ali Cobby Eckermann in her five selected poems. This quality can be seen in the relationship between forms and contents of her work. Consequently, the writer expects that it will show the proof that there are an “organic unity” between forms and contents, could lead us to the interpretation that Eckermann‟s poems have good quality. Besides that, the writer wants to explore the Eckermann problems as Aboriginal people throughout Eckermann‟s
five selected poems.
1.5The Review of Previous Study
In writing this research, the writer needs to concern and traces back the preceding researches about the poems that are substantially related to the topic and could give insights to the development of the research. The writer finds references about this research from different points. First, thesis of an english department student in Andalas University, a research about Ali Cobby Eckermann entitled Mimicry As a Device To Destroy Aboriginal Identity in Ali Cobby Eckermann’s
Eckermann‟s poems by using postcolonial approach focusing on the issue of
mimicry. In his research, he found that Aboriginal people get the impact of mimicry in the loss of Aboriginal identity as another effect of the assimilation process. The people lost their traditional way of life and many of them have left their native way of life. The Aboriginal people adopt white people‟s way of life as
their culture, and admit white civilization was much better than their own civilization. Then, the indigenous people tried hard to implement the white people‟s way of life in their daily activity. His research found that the aboriginal
people recently could accept the white civilization; some of them tried hard to search for their native culture like Eckermann described in her poetry (57-58). In this context, this thesis analysis the same poet with the writer, it helps the writer in order to give other point of view about Eckermann‟s poems.
Second, the writer tries to find research about Ali Cobby Eckermann‟s poems in internet source. It is reviewed by Whitebeach entitled An Incisive Indigenous Voice (2012). In her review, Whitebeach told about Eckemann first poems collection book Little Bit Long Time as her resolution in both life and in art. Whitebeach stated that Eckermann poems told about Eckermann finding of the true home and in her searching for identity. This review also mentioned meaning of the poems. One part that takes a poem “I Tell You True” shows someone
Third, the writer found Eckermann‟s story in Poetry International Rotterdam website written by Brennan (2012). This page shared Eckermann profile in order to introduce Australian poets. At the ending of the page, Brennan stated Eckermann story on the ABC website, “I hope that audiences who hear my
words will have a better understanding of Aboriginal life and the emotional impact of past and present (bad) policy, especially the Stolen Generations. If this can be achieved through my poetry and prose then I can die happy”. This story helps the writer to keep attention to poet‟s intention about issues of aboriginal society.
Fourth, the writer also finds an analysis about poems by Lord Byron researched by Indra Miad, entitled Universal Truth in the Theme of Five Selected Poems by Lord Byron: a New Criticism Analysis (2010). Miad examines Lord Byron poetry by applying New Critic approach. He focused on the main tension, logical structure, local texture, and theme of the poetry. Miad found that five poems by Byron have the universal truth. He used Rob Pope thinking about main tension, structure, texture, and the theme from that element. Miad analyzed the logical structure and local texture as a unity. The poet gave concepts about universality of human values that he found during his trip to many countries in Europe and this concept was manifested into this work consciously and unconsciously (46). Thus, this research can lead the writer to understand how to analyze poems.
the overabundance of the research about form and content, the writer tries to find the unity between the form and the content of poems in order to judge the quality of the literary work itself.
1.6 Theoretical Framework
As this thesis tries to prove that both forms and contents of Eckermann‟s five selected poems are correlated, it requires theoritical frameworks which may serve as guidelines for analyzing for both the forms and the contents of each poems. The writer applies new criticism approach to explore the form in Eckermann‟s poems. New criticism is used by the critics to perceive the main analysis on the literary work because new criticism focuses on the text intrisically. Bressler (1999:37) said that, “This approach to literary analysis provides the
reader with a formula for arriving at the correct interpretation of a text using only the text it self”. Bressler uses Formalistic criticism as broadly known as New
criticism. One important thing that new criticism wants to share is reading well. Guerin (1999) said about New Criticism purpose in reading closely and reading well. Guerin creates a clear purpose of New Criticism that English and America critics focus on close reading.
Ransom uses New Criticism become popular in 1941 by publishing his book entitled The New Criticism. He is a lecturer in Venderbilt University. Ransom finding is about the principle in recognize a poem of concrete entity like Leonardo da Vinci‟s Mona Lisa or the score of Handel‟s Messiah or even any chemical element such as iron or gold. Bressler (1999:38) said that,“ Like these concreate
object, a poem can be analyzed to discover its true or correct meaning independent of its author‟s intention, or the emotional state, or the values and beliefs of either its author or reader”.
Specifically, in New Criticism talks a lot about form and content. Form and content are two part that relate each other. They can not be seperated. Bressler (1999) said that, “Because all the element of poem‟s affect or form, it is impossible to discuss the overall meaning of a poem by isolating or seperating form and content” (44).
anomatopoeia, rhyme, assonance, and rhythm. Hence, these devices will explain the effect and fulfill the poet‟s intention.
In finding the meaning, new criticism suggest to analyze from linguistic devices. It consists of the meaning of four kinds of linguistics devise such as paradox, irony, ambiguity, and tension. Tyson (2006) states about the definition of each literary devices. He says that paradox is a statement that seems self-contradictory but represents the actual way things are. The second term is Irony. Irony means a statement or event undermined by the context in which it occurs. Ambiguity occurs when a word, image, or event generates two or more different meanings. Tension is created by the integration of the abstract and the concrete, of general ideas embodied in specific images. By applying linguistic devises, the critics can find the meaning that refer to theme.
The big line of the research is the relation of the form and the content that create a “organic unity”. Bressler (1999:43) mentions that new criticism declare that every successful literary work has “organic unity”. Because every
good and successful poems have organic unity, it would be inconceivable to try to separate a poem‟s form and it‟s conten, maintain the New Critics.
The writer applies biographical as supporting approach to explore the meaning of Eckermann‟s poems. Biographical is used in further analysis for better
meaning. It‟s explained by Bressler (1999), that new criticism did not allow insertion little emphasis on the author, the sosial context, or a text‟s historical
situation as a source for discovering a poem meaning. It called affective fallacy (42).
Biographical uses connection of author‟s life and author‟s literary work. This correlation is needed in order to find out the meaning of literay work itself. The author‟s facts can lead to the author‟s intention. Mario Klarer (2004) states about the main point of this theory, biographical established a direct link between the literary text and the biography of the author. Dates, facts, and events in an author‟s life are juxtaposed with literary elements of his or her works in order to
find aspects which connect the biography of the author with the text (90).
Literary work itself become a media of the author to express their feeling, exclusively poetry. Poetry is a suitable media to show a poet‟s feeling as a place to examine the poet‟s impression about anything around their life. The writer
can use this approach in order to cover the meaning of the poems. Abrams (1976) states, “Poetry is the overflow, utterence, or projection of the thought and feeling of the poet…. Poetry is defined in term of imaginative process which modifies and
synthesizes the images, thought, and the feeling of the poet.” (22).
unity. New Criticism believes that every good and successful poem has organic unity.At the end of the analysis, the writer want to judge the quality of literary work and find out the meaning of Eckermann‟s poems.
1.7 The Method of the Research
In conducting the research, three steps will be followed. The first step is collecting the data. There are two kinds of data used in this research, the primary data which is taken from literary work itself, Ali Cobby Eckermann‟s poems book Little Bit Long Time, and the secondary data which are taken from literary theory
books and article related to this study. The data collected by using library research methods, reading the book, article, and journals and browsing the internet.
The second step is analyzing the data. The data will be analyzed by using new criticism. Then it is analyzed qualitatively: grouping the data based on aspects to be analyzed, and then draw the relevant conclusion based on the problem discussed. In this research, the writer analyzes the five selected poems of Eckermann that has same issues about the poet‟s family. The problem in Eckermann‟s poems are needed to analyze as reflection of poet‟s sorrows.
